'No World' continues saga

Coheed & Cambria's new album "No World for Tomorrow" wraps up "The Armory Wars" saga started on the Nyack, N.Y., band's first album "The Second Stage Turbine Blade."

The story, which was published in a series of comic books written by the band's frontman Claudio Sanchez, is about a character named Claudio Kilgannon, whose parents are named Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon. The younger Kilgannon is the chosen one destined to save Heaven's Fence Universe and have a showdown with the universe's ruler Supreme Tri-mage Wilhem Ryan, who was instrumental in the deaths of Kilgannon's parents.

And yet, the release of "No World of Tomorrow" does not finish the saga, according to bassist Michael ("Mic") Todd. "The next album will be a prequel to the story," Todd said by phone from Massachusetts. "Claudio had the whole story in his mind even before we started as a band."

The roots of Coheed & Cambria (the band) are as winding as its musical arrangements. But they can be traced back to 1995 when Sanchez and guitarist Travis Stever formed Beautiful Loser. A year later, the band saw a line-up change that brought Todd into the fold.

The band changed its name to Shabute and did some gigs but then changed its name again to Coheed & Cambria after a new drummer, Josh Eppard, joined; he would be the drummer for the next seven years.

Last year, both Eppard and Todd left for personal reasons, but Todd returned earlier this year and the band recruited former Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Chris Pennie. Although Pennie doesn't appear on the new album, he arranged the drum tracks and is on the tour.

With all those changes, it would have been easy for the band to call it quits.

But it didn't.

"All through everything, the music came first," said Todd. "Even after I took the year off, the music was important. In fact, we write the music first, and then Claudio comes in with his ideas and writes the lyrics.

"Then again, we have always been a band that plays a lot of music. We have different styles that come into our compositions. So when we make a new album, we don't worry about if it's going to sound like a Coheed & Cambria album. Because, in reality, our sound is all over the place."

One of the different aspects for this album is its dedication to Sanchez's aunt Antonia Cristiano, who died from complications of Alzheimer's. She was one of the band's strongest supporters. "Claudio got in touch with the Alzheimer's Association chapter in New York and arranged for us to perform an Alzheimer's benefit concert at the CMJ music festival last week

"There are many people who are affected directly and indirectly when someone they know suffers from the disease. And playing the show was a good thing for us to do. It raised some awareness but also helped us deal with the loss."